Archive By Author - Susan Thacker

The three trumpeter swans at the Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo were removed from public display last week to protect them from an increase of avian influenza that is sweeping across the country, Zookeeper Sara Hamlin said. Meanwhile, the zoo's alligators have been moved to their fall/winter quarters.

L.E. "Gus" Shafer is best remembered for his bronze sculptures of Old West cowboys, but a new abstract piece inspired by the artist was dedicated Tuesday outside Barton Community College's Shafer Art Gallery.

For the past 11 years, Great Bend Middle School instructor Greg Wells has been leaving sticky notes is classrooms throughout the school district. In addition to his teaching duties, Wells serves as the USD 428 energy manager, overseeing a conservation program. The notes may remind a teacher to turn off a computer or the light at the end of the day.

The Barton County Young Professionals group championed the cause of fitness Saturday by sponsoring the first YP5K and Half Marathon at Veterans Memorial Park. Twenty participants started the half marathon at 7 a.m. An hour later, 56 more runners/walkers started the 5K event.

The Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, was a weapons free zone. Everyone fighting in the area was supposed to know its coordinates. But last Saturday, the hospital was bombarded by American military, after Afghan forces called for air support to take back the city from the Taliban.

An official from NASA will be the keynote speaker at the 12th annual Jack Kilby Science Day. The public is invited to attend as Raphael Grau, acting manager of external integration for the International Space Station Program, addresses area high school students. His talk will be at 9 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, in the Fine Arts Building at Barton Community College.

The new interior walls that separate the children's area from the rest of the Great Bend Public Library are something librarians have requested for years, GBPL Director Harry Willems said. The project always appeared to be too expensive, before now.

Sunset was still a couple of hours away Monday as the Great Bend Public Library started its first of three Nocturnal Night programs. A crowd of children, mostly in grades K through 2, showed up with their parents to learn more about nocturnal creatures.